By: Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
Ghana’s Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah has expressed satisfaction with the Accra High Court verdict on Aisha Huang’s galamsey case saying it is reasonable within the laws that surround the ruling which suggests a maximum of five years for such a case.
Galamsey Queen, Aisha Huang on Monday, December 4, 2023, got sentenced to a 4-year, 6-month jail term with a fine of GHS 48,000 by an Accra High Court after spending over 12 months in custody after her arrest.
The verdict has come as a shock to most Ghanaians as they expected a severe punishment for someone whose illegal activities have destroyed water bodies and have also led to the loss of valuable properties and lives.
In a media interview after the Deputy Attorney General disclosed that, the offense of Aisha Huang was committed before 2019 and the law then stated that the maximum sentence should be five years.
He added that, having been in custody for over 12 months, it was in the best interest that the Judge considered the period Aisha Huang has already spent in custody and pronounced a 4-year, 6-month jail term with a fine of GHS 48,000.
He further explained why the new law that suggests a maximum of 25 years could not be applied to Aisha Huang.
He said, the offence was committed before the reviewed terms of jail and by the provisions of the law, once a person is arrested and charged for committing an offence during a certain period and undergoes a successful prosecution, the person is subjected to the sentence then and not the reviewed one.
So according to him, Aisha Huang got sentenced according to the laws at the time of her arrest and not under the new regime or laws.
She is to face deportation after her jail term service and fine payment.
